Download - Brother Thomas Fellowships
Brother Thomas
Fellowships A Special Arts Initiative
of the Boston Foundation
We all share a
creative goal
with art. The goal
is difficult; it is
an invitation to
change the world.
Brother Thomas
From Our President and CEO
This year is the Boston Foundation’s 100th Anniversary and
in the process of studying our history, we have learned a great
deal about the Foundation’s long commitment to supporting
the arts. One of the very first grants made by the Foundation
went to the Community Music Center of Boston to teach the
children of immigrants who came to our city in search of the
American dream.
As the Foundation’s resources grew, thanks to hundreds
of generous donors, it began to provide critical early
funding for iconic cultural institutions, such as WGBH-TV,
groundbreaking performing arts organizations, such as
American Repertory Theater, and advocacy organizations,
including ArtsBoston.
In the 1980s, responding to a time of diminishing government
support for the arts, a series of special designated funds were
established at the Foundation to provide annual funding to a
number of Boston’s cultural organizations so that they could
continue to offer free programming to the community.
And, thanks to the vision and generosity of a brilliant ceramic
artist named Brother Thomas, in 2007 the Boston Foundation
expanded its grant making to include fellowship grants to
some of Boston’s most talented individual artists.
This brochure introduces the 10 Fellows who will receive the
award this year, bringing the total of fellowships awarded
since the program began to 30. We are pleased to introduce
you to them here and are delighted to mark the Foundation’s
Centennial with these new Brother Thomas Fellows.
Paul S. GroganPresident and CEO of the Boston Foundation
RaÚl Gonzalez III
“and their
Families”
Mixed media on wall,
13 by 40 feet, with
student artists
2015 Brother Thomas Fellows
Napoleon Jones-Henderson Visual Artist
Napoleon Jones-Henderson has been developing
his art for more than 50 years, independently and
through formal study—from the Sorbonne in the
1960s to the Maryland College of Art, where he
received a Master of Fine Arts as recently as 2005.
Now he is teaching and inspiring the next generation
of artists by working with young apprentices to create
large-scale public art. “It is my dream,” he says, “to
continue sharing my skill and love of the creative
journey as a life-fulfilling enterprise.”
Michelle Seaton Author
Michelle Seaton uses the “unreported
knowledge” that she has gained over 25 years
as a writer and reporter to tell nuanced, fictional
stories. Some of her work is inspired by her
journalism—her position as a sanctioned observer
in restricted spaces, such as locker rooms and
cancer wards. “I want to continue to describe
what it’s like to be an individual in a world
where the official story told by news sources is
incomplete,” she says. “I want to continue to
write the stories that are important to me.”
Jae Williams Filmmaker
Jae Williams has made it his
life’s mission to share and
express his curiosity and to
challenge himself through
his chosen medium of film.
Now he is also dedicated to
teaching inner-city children the
fundamentals of filmmaking
through the Forever Ink
Project, inspired by his first
film. He has reached 60
children in just two years.
“To understand my vision
and mission,” he says, “is
to understand the path to
my identity as an artist and
how I see myself providing a
space for those who have had
limitations.”
Masako Kamiya Visual Artist
Masako Kamiya challenges the
way painting is conventionally
perceived. Working with
acrylic gouache, she creates
three-dimensional paintings
through a repetitive technique
of paint application that
gives her work a “sculptural
dimension.” She explains,
“This sculptural surface moves
viewers across the field of the
painting … forcing viewers’
eyes to mix and optically
process the various properties
of color.” Now, with six solo
exhibits at Boston’s Gallery
NAGA to her credit, Masako
is ready to open her mind and
start a new body of work.
Halsey Burgund Sound Artist and Musician
Halsey Burgund has spent the
last decade collecting spoken
human voices and creating
performance pieces as well
as what he calls “evolving
contributory installations”
using the voices, along with
traditional and electronic
instruments, as raw material.
“There is music around us
every day,” he explains, “the
music of human existence that,
when processed and arranged
by an artist, can emphasize
to everyone who listens that
there are beautiful and lyrical
moments surrounding us all
the time.”
Danielle Legros Georges Poet
As the current “Poet Laureate”
of Boston, Danielle Legros
Georges, who was born
in Haiti and grew up in
Dorchester, began her work
by bringing the immigrant
experience to life through
her poetry. “I write poems as
a way to explore questions
I have, or as attempts to
better understand certain
subjects,” she says. “Art
and art production, for me,
carry with them many of
the positive principles of the
lessons learned from family
and members of the Haitian-
American community in
which I developed as a person
and an artist.”
Raúl Gonzalez III Visual Artist
Raúl Gonzalez believes that art should strive to be
a true reflection of our world and not just of those
who have the privilege to create it. Inspired by the
immigrant experience, from his perspective as a first
generation Mexican American, he strives to tell stories
that welcome diverse citizens from all backgrounds
and give them the confidence of belonging. In
his words, “My work revolves around teaching,
community and the making of artwork that shines a
light and gives a voice to those who may not have it.”
Sandrine Schaefer Performance Artist
For Sandrine Schaefer, the thing we all call “art”
in performance art, is the creative process rather
than the product of a creative process. Using what
she calls a “site-sensitive” approach, she explores
the parameters of time and the body. “Because
my practice is site-sensitive,” she explains, “each
piece I create can only exist in the place that I
have sited at the time I am making the work.” As
such, she adds, “Because the work unfolds in real
time, it must be witnessed live.”
Nicole Aquillano Ceramic Artist
Through the labor-intensive act of making
her ceramics, Nicole Aquillano says that she
establishes “a close personal relationship with
each piece.” Her work, inspired by her collection
of architectural photographs, features intensely
detailed drawings and lines etched directly into
the porcelain clay body, which is, in her words,
“blurred by the movement of glaze.” She is
particularly moved to explore the human need
to maintain collections as a way to preserve
the past and satisfy the longing with which we
inhabit the world.
Balla Kouyaté Composer/Musician
Balla Kouyaté is a Mandé Djeli—a musician from
the Dokkala lineage of the Kouyaté clan in the Mali
region of West Africa. He plays and arranges for a
traditional instrument called a balafon, which he
learned from his father. “I consider it both my destiny
and my purpose to share my history, culture and
music with the world,” he says. His love of music
also has led him to transcend what he calls the
“boundaries of my ancestral heritage” and explore
cross-cultural collaboration with musicians such
as Yo-Yo Ma.
The Brother Thomas Fund
was established at the Boston Foundation in
2007 to honor the legacy of Brother Thomas,
a Benedictine monk and world-renowned
ceramic artist, who wanted the sale of his work
to support other artists, as his many friends had
helped him.
Brother Thomas Fellowships are awarded
to a diverse group of Greater Boston artists
working at a high level of excellence in many
disciplines—with the goal of enhancing their
ability to thrive and create new work.
All fellows receive no-strings-attached awards
of $15,000 and are selected biennially through a
rigorous process of nominations and review by a
multidisciplinary panel of Boston area nonprofit
arts leaders and practitioners.
As more artists join the ranks of Brother
Thomas Fellows, our community will benefit
immeasurably from their collective talent
and creativity.
Sandrine Schaefer
Gandhi’s Flame
site-specific performance
art infiltration into pubic
space, March 2012,
Mexico City, 14 minutes
In the 1970s, when Brother Thomas first met Sue
and Bernie Pucker, owners of the Pucker Gallery
on Boston’s Newbury Street, ceramics were
considered to be more craft than art. Brother
Thomas changed that perception forever. Today,
his work can be found in more than 50 national
and international museums and galleries,
including the Pucker Gallery, which holds
the largest and most diverse collection.
Toward the end of his life, Brother Thomas
joined forces with the Puckers to create a legacy
that would benefit other artists through the
sale of his work. Today, the proceeds of the sale
of the remarkable works held by the Pucker
Gallery—a series of breathtaking vessels with
luminous and delicate glazes—support the
Brother Thomas Fellowships.
The Boston Foundation’s Arts Fund matches
all contributions to the Brother Thomas Fund.
We invite you to join us in fulfilling Brother
Thomas’ vision. If you are interested in
contributing to the Brother Thomas Fund or
if you are a collector who would like to learn
more about purchasing Brother Thomas’ works
of art as a way of supporting the fund, we
encourage you to contact us. We also invite
you to contribute to the Boston Foundation
Arts Fund, Greater Boston’s only permanent
endowment to support arts and culture in
our community. For more information, please
contact the Boston Foundation at 617-338-1700.
Supporting the Brother Thomas Fellowships
About the Boston FoundationAs Greater Boston’s community foundation since 1915, the
Boston Foundation devotes its resources to building and
sustaining a vital, prosperous city and region, where justice
and opportunity are extended to everyone. It fulfills this
mission in three principle ways:
Helping donors achieve high-impact philanthropy
Providing major funding for nonprofit organizations
Serving as a civic leader and convener
All of the work of the Foundation is guided by two main
strategic goals that reflect our deep commitment
to strengthening our communities:
Greater Boston residents are successful and thriving.
Greater Boston communities are vibrant, safe and affordable.
Through these goals, we seek to have a profound impact
on important areas of community life:
Education
Health
Jobs and Economic Development
Neighborhoods and Housing
Arts and Culture
For more information about the Boston Foundation or the Brother
Thomas Fellowships, call 617-338-1700 or visit www.tbf.org.
Nicole Aquillano
Cityscape Bowl
13” diameter, 7”
height, porcelain with
inlaid underglaze
and glaze, fired to
cone 10 in oxidation
2013
Publication Credits
Editor: Barbara Hindley, Senior Director of Publications and Marketing, The Boston Foundation
Editorial Consultants: Ann McQueen, McQueen Philanthropic
Allyson Esposito, Director of Arts and Culture, The Boston Foundation
Designer: Kate Canfield, Canfield Design
Photographer: Richard Howard